Charles Fey invented the slot machine in the 1890′s. He probably never envisioned that his creation called the “Liberty Bell” would evolve into the most popular form of casino gambling today.

The slot evolution however had a lot of growing pains as many in the United States viewed gambling as a social ill. By 1910 all legal gambling activity was shut down,which left horse racing as the only legal entity in America.

During the 1920′s prohibition era, the public’s thirst for gambling matched that of booze. Slot machines along with alcohol were found in “Speak Easy’s” throughout America, many of them controlled by Organized Crime. After prohibition ended underground casinos remained active.

States began to crack down on illegal casinos and began to seize and destroy gambling equipment, including slot machines. Mayor LaGuardia of New York City called them “mechanical pick pockets”, destroyed them with a sledge hammer, and dumped them into Long Island Sound. (You can watch the action on YouTube.)

In 1931 Nevada legalized gambling. Slot machines populated the floor in the states’ casinos but were there only to amuse the wives and mistresses playing their pennies and nickles while the men did all the heavy gambling at the tables. (A portrayal of this is depicted in the 1952 movie, “The Las Vegas Story” with Vincent Price, Victor Mature, and Jane Russel.) Slots remained a “ladies” game until Atlantic City legalized gambling in 1978.

Bally Manufacturing invented a unit powered by electricity and slots began to “light up” and produce various sound effects. When multi-coin acceptors were introduced, new dollar machines meant larger jackpots for customers. When the Random Number Generator was invented top prize amounts could be increased on four and five reel versions. A spin button became an alternative to the handle.

The Indian Gaming Act was approved in the 1980′s which allowed casinos on reservation land and newly legislated dockside riverboat gambling attracted new slot players while racetracks added the one arm bandits..

IGT launched Megabucks in 1986 and slots were now linked across Nevada by phone lines offering a giant lottery size jackpot that grew with each coin wagered. The Progressive Jackpot was born and players could now become millionaires. Players began abandoning the table games, flocked to the machines and casinos took notice.

Where We Are

The proliferation of slots paved the way for new inventions. A video slot with 25 lines, up to a bet of 10 credits per line allowed for a ticket in, ticket out, (TITO) system. The coins and the handles followed the dinosaurs.. Operators could now lower the denominations to as little as a penny and still turn a profit.

In the new century slot makers were quick to promote the themed slot, units based on popular movies, TV shows and entertainers. Players could now spin the Wheel of Fortune, giggle at Curley, Larry, and Moe, take a ride with Captain Kirk, or croon over Ol’ Blue eyes. All the games have video clips from favorite shows.

The themed slots have evolved to 5 video reels with up to 40 lines. Chairs have comfortable high backs, and some even vibrate when certain bonus features are hit. Touch screens have the latest LCD technology, 3D graphics and Bose sound systems as they continue to evolve. Depending on the game theme, players can wager as little as one penny(credit) per line up to $2, $3, and $4 maximums. Bonus features offer generous payouts while progressive jackpots climb to six and seven figures.

Newer games saw the introduction of CSI, Sex and the City, Iron man, Michael Jackson, David Copperfield, The Walking Dead, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Wonder Woman, Ellen, Let’s Make a Deal, the Godfather, Monopoly, and The list goes on and on.

Where We’re Going

The themed slot will no doubt continue to grow. However there’s a huge segment of casino patrons looking for something different. They are the Millennials.Born in the early 1980′s to the late 1990′s who grew up playing video games. Casinos took notice that this generation didn’t care to sit in front of a machine that did all the work for them in order to win. They want to be involved to make it happen. This led to the introduction of Games of Skill at the 2016 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

Two companies, GameCo and Gamblit Gaming introduced their wares at the expo and by all accounts, things look very promising. Other companies, Konami and Scientific Games are creating their own versions to attract the Gen Y’s. Other companies will soon follow.

Some of the games are based on poker where a limited number of players use their skill to grab the cards they need. In another game players have to collect rare treasures in Pharaoh’s Secret Temple before time is up.

Dealer Bluff Six Card Poker is a poker variant table game which is distinctive. The dealer makes the first move and players react to what he or she does. Be aware that the dealer could occasionally bluff, but if you have poker tell expertise that won’t help because an electronic card reader that’s programmed to operate randomly, makes all the decisions to bluff, or not to bluff.

How to Play

Players must first make equal ante and blind bets. The dealer gives six cards face down to each and to him or herself. The dealer bets first, with the option to bet 1X, 2X, or 3X the player’s ante. The electronic card reader will then announce the dealer’s wager amount. Typically the dealer bets more with a strong hand and less with a weak hand, but keep in mind that the dealer will occasionally bluff. The objective is to beat the dealer with a better five card poker hand.

After the dealer bets, players have the option to fold (lose the ante and blind wagers) or call (make a play wager equal to the dealer’s), or raise (double the dealer’s bet). the cards are then turned face up to determine the winner(s).

Results

If the dealer has less than a pair, the ante wager is a push. All other bets receive action. If the dealer wins, the player’s ante, play, and blind bets lose. If the player wins, the ante and play bets pay even money. The blind bet pays according to the following table:

Hand Payout

Royal Flush – 500/1

Straight Flush – 50/1

Four of a Kind – 15/1

Full House – 4/1

Flush – 3 /1

Straight – 1.5/1

3/Kind – 1/1

All Other – Push

A tie between the dealer and the player is a push.

Optional Wagers

Aces Up – This optional bet pays the following even if the player loses the hand to the dealer:

Hand Payout

Royal Flush – 200/1

Straight Flush – 50/1

Four of a Kind – 30/1

Full House – 8/1

Flush – 7/1

Straight – 6/1

Three of a Kind – 4/1

Two Pair – 2/1

Pair of Aces – 1/1

Two Way Bad Beat – This option pays the following if the dealer or player has a pair of aces or better and loses. No matter who wins the hand, the player s always a winner if a bad beat occurs, unless there is a tie:

Hand Payout

Straight Flush – 10,000/1

Four of a Kind – 5,000/1

Full House – 500/1

Flush – 200/1

Straight – 100/1

Three of a Kind – 35/1

Two Pair – 10/1

Pair of Aces – 9/1

House Edge and Strategy

The house edge for the initial hand is about 1.7%, optional Aces Up and Bad Beat wagers are about 6.2% and 10.6% respectively.

The recommended strategy from the experts is: If the dealer wagers 1X – fold with a K-J-8 or less, raise with a pair of 3′s or better, call on all other hands. If the dealer raises 2X – fold with a pair of 6′s or lower, raise with a pair of 10′s or better, call on all other hands. If the dealer raises 3X – fold with a pair of 9′s or less, raise with a pair of Kings or better, call on all other hands.

You can not realistically ban encryption. Encryption is used to protect communication through electronic devices; it protects your bank information and online accounts. This is cryptography, it is used in hundreds of systems. We have politicians speaking about banning these technologies. How can this be? British Prime minister David Cameron has raised a red flag on encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Snapchat. He has called for the banning of these apps; implying that they are being used by criminal organizations and terrorists to communicate.

“In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which we cannot read?”, rhetorically said by the Prime Minister

With this sort of logic I am going to go as far as to say; we should leave our houses and cars unlocked; and valuables left unguarded in public spaces because surely it would be much simpler to catch thieves and put them in prison.

Security is not just for what the social norm calls the “good guys”. It is a two way street. I would rather have peace of mind that my data is being protected so well; to the point that Government officials can not tap into it. Think about the various ways this could go wrong. Imagine corrupt politicians with access to data or just consider that lightening up on security measures, will make it easier for the average hacker to gain access.

Computer scientists have spoken out on the futility of weakening encryption; so only Government officials have access.This same weaknesses can be exploited by malicious hackers. This view is held by many computer experts actively in the field.

A few months back a ban was called on WhatsApp in the UK; it has recently been dropped because of mass criticism. But this can of worms has not been closed just yet. This has just pushed the issue to other parts of the world; where they can theoretically gain some traction and spread. India has a ban on certain types of encryption. WhatsApp uses end to end encryption; which is illegal in India. WhatsApp uses a 256bit encryption which is only known by the sender and the receiver. India only allows 40bit encryption if you want to have permission you need to apply through the Government. The Indian Government has asked for the keys to be able to gain access; but WhatsApp creators have said they do not have them. So all user using the latest version of WhatsApp in India are technically breaking the law. No actions have been decided on what to do with the company; they are not based in India making things complicated. Recently Brazilian authorities have been reported to have been reported to be collecting WhatsApp data with the hopes of fighting drug tracking. WhatsApp has been cooperating with law enforcement; but have gone on to say that they cannot provide the full extent of what they want. We are just uncovering what’s on the surface; do some research on what your local Government and even internet service providers are doing; and what data they are doing with this data.

Why is it that every time we look at Washington DC we see questionable activities borderlining on corruption or outright illegality? Perhaps this is one thing that both sides of the aisle agree on – they seem to agree this is acceptable, it’s not. Let’s take these recent issues with email scandals. We have the DNC being hacked by a Romanian Hacker and Hillary Clinton’s illegal private email server with official State Department correspondence on it, some of it Top Secret but all of it, none of anyone else’s business especially foreign entities and spies.

There was an interesting article in Homeland Security News; “Democrats brace for more e-mail leaks,” posted on July 26, 2016. The article stated:

“The FBI on Monday said the agency is investigating the hacks of the DNC computer networks. Democrats are worried that the Russian government hackers behind the DNC hacks may have gotten their hands on other politically embarrassing e-mails and documents, and the hackers would release these e-mails and documents between now and November in an effort to increase Trump’s chances of winning in November. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and its current top editor, who said that the release [of the DNC e-mails] on Friday was the first in a series.”

Basically, the emails that caused the DNC Chairwoman to resign are the tip-of-the-iceberg. Just as what was revealed from Hillary Clinton’s private email server turned out to be much more than she admitted when interviewed hundreds of times on the subject. If the DNC is corrupt and worked to undermine one of its own candidates in the primary process for another one, they’ve dishonored every democrat voter in America, and therefore they need to get their house in order and should probably sit out the rest of this election until they de-corrupt their activities and change-out their leadership. Free and Fair elections are crucial for a free society, but half of our electorate has been snookered and lied to.

If more emails do come out which show collusion which WikiLeaks notes is the case, then there could be another reason for a potential indictment of Hillary Clinton, even if she has temporarily dodged the first one with her misuse of classified material on her illegal server circumventing the State Department’s protocol. It hardly matters who hacked the emails in either case at the time, the question now is what information were in those emails, and what will they reveal about just how bad our political process has gotten and just how corrupt our leadership at the highest levels really is. Think on that.